My amazing wife builds me a porch desk

I often refer to my house’s roomy front porch as my “third office” because I do a lot of work out there during Minnesota’s all-too-brief summers.

It seems criminal to hole up in my Pioneer Press cubicle, or in my home office, when I can do my work amidst fresh breezes, whispering trees, tweeting birdies and alluring odors from my wife’s nearby gardens.

For years, however, I couldn’t get my porch-workstation arrangement exactly right.

I tried an old folding table I scavenged from the office, but it is too high for ergonomically correct typing.

This oddball arrangement was even less comfortable.

I also experimented with a variety of standing-desk setups, which were all fantastic … but I can’t stand all the time, and I still had not solved the sitting-desk situation.

My mate, as usual, came to my rescue. She wears the tool belt in our family, as the daughter of a general contractor, and she has been known to singlehandedly take on massive projects such as top-to-bottom kitchen and bathroom remodels.

Compared to such epic undertakings, solving my porch-workstation issue was trivial for her.

In no time at all, my wife whipped up this desk for me.

Then, when I realized we had not calculated the desk’s height correctly, she did more work on the piece in the blink of an eye and with nary a whiff of impatience.

Now I am working out on the porch in comfort and style, with the option to put a standing-desk module atop my new desk if I want to mix things up. This is now my favorite place to work, and I have my soulmate to thank.